Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 16:41
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
41 50. The people murmured at the death of Korah’s company, and were punished by a plague, which ceased when Aaron made atonement with incense.
In contrast to the action of the princes, the offering of incense by a duly qualified person is accepted by Jehovah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Num 16:41-50
On the morrow all the congregation . . . murmured.
Transgression and intercession
I. A new rebellion raised the very next day against Moses and Aaron. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and wonder, O earth! Was there ever such an instance of the incurable corruption of sinners! (Num 16:41). On the morrow the body of the people mutinied–
1. Though they were but newly terrified by the sight of the punishment of the rebels. Warnings slighted.
2. Though they were but newly saved from sharing in the same punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owed their preservation.
II. Gods speedy appearing against the rebels. When they were gathered against Moses and Aaron, perhaps with design to depose or murder them, they looked towards the tabernacle, as if their misgiving consciences expected some frowns from thence; and behold the glory of the Lord appeared (Num 16:42) for the protection of His servants, and confusion of His and their accusers. Moses and Aaron thereupon came before the tabernacle, partly for their own safety; there they took sanctuary from the strife of tongues (Psa 37:5; Psa 31:20), and partly for advice, to know what was the mind of God upon this occasion (Num 16:43). Justice hereupon declares, They deserve to be consumed in a moment (Num 16:45). Why should they live another day who hate to be reformed, and whose rebellions are their daily practices? Let just vengeance take place and do its work, and the trouble with them will soon be over; only Moses and Aaron must first be secured.
III. The intercession which Moses and Aaron made for them. Though they had as much reason, one would think, as Elias had, to make intercession against Israel (Rom 11:7), yet they forgive and forget the indignities offered them, and are the best friends their enemies have.
1. They both fell on their faces, humbly to intercede with God for mercy, knowing how great their provocation was. This they had done several times before upon the like occasion; and though the people had basely requited them for it, yet God having graciously accepted them, they still have recourse to the same method. This is praying always.
2. Moses perceiving that the plague was begun in the congregation of the rebels, i.e., that body of them which was gathered together against Moses, sends Aaron by an act of his priestly office to make atonement for them (Num 16:46). And Aaron readily went, burnt incense between the living and the dead, not to purify the infected air, but to pacify an offended God, and so stayed the progress of the judgment (Num 16:47).
IV. The result and issue of the whole matter.
1. Gods justice was glorified in the death of some. Great execution the sword of the Lord did in a very little time. Though Aaron made all the haste he could, yet before he could reach his post of service there were fourteen thousand seven hundred men laid dead upon the spot (Num 16:49). Note, those that quarrel with lesser judgments prepare greater for themselves; for when God judgeth He will overcome.
2. His mercy was glorified in the preservation of the rest. God showed them what He could do by His power, and what He might do in justice, but then showed them what He could do in His love and pity. He would preserve them a people to Himself for all this, in and by a Mediator. The cloud of Aarons incense coming from his hand stayed the plague. Note, it is much for the glory of Gods goodness that many a time, even in wrath, He remembers mercy; and even when judgments have been begun, prayer has put a stop to them, so ready is He to forgive, and so little pleasure doth He take in the death of sinners. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
The aggravated rebellion of the people, the effectual intercession of the good, and the justice and mercy of God
I. The aggravated rebellion of the people.
1. Terrible disregard of Divine warnings.
2. Base ingratitude to Moses and Aaron.
3. Profane characterisation of the wicked as the people of God.
II. The speedy interposition of Jehovah.
1. The manifestation of His glory.
2. The declaration of the desert of the rebels.
III. The effectual intercession of Moses and Aaron.
1. The kindness of Moses and Aaron. Their conduct reminds us of Him who prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
2. The courage of Aaron. He feared neither the excited people who were embittered against him, nor the pestilence which was smiting down the people by thousands, but ran into the midst of the congregation, &c.
3. The zeal of Aaron. He was now an old man, yet he ran into the midst, &c. An example for Christian ministers.
4. The success of Aaron. The plague was stayed. How great is the power of prayer!
IV. The exercise of the justice and mercy of God.
1. Here is an impressive display of Divine justice. Many slain.
2. Here is an encouraging manifestation of Divine mercy. Some spared.
Conclusion: Learn–
1. The heinousness of sin.
2. The great value of a faithful ministry.
3. The readiness of God to forgive sin. (W. Jones.)
Make an atonement for them.
The sin of man and the salvation of God
I. There is an awful controversy between a holy God and a rebellious world. Our sin resembles theirs in many aspects, and has the same aggravations.
1. As it directly strikes against the authority and the grace of God, whatever be the form it assumes.
2. As it is often committed in the face of frequent and awful warnings.
3. As it is heightened by the experience of Gods preserving and upholding mercy.
II. There is at hand a prescribed and Divinely approved remedy.
1. That our only escape from threatened wrath is through the mediation and advocacy of our High Priest.
2. That the plan of salvation by faith is as efficacious in reality as it is simple in its mode of application.
3. That an immediate application to it is our only protection against certain ruin. Go quickly. (S. Thodey.)
An awful spectacle, and a surprising remedy
I. An awful spectacle exhibited. When private prayer is a task, and the minor moralities of life begin to be disregarded, there are fearful symptoms of decay and declension. The plague is begun.
II. The surprising remedy found. Take a censer, &c. Where is the physician who would have recommended this as a cure for the plague? Who would have thought that the appearance of a single priest amidst the dying and the dead should have stopped the progress of the pestilence? Yet the incense and the fire and the oblation accomplish that for Israel which all the wisdom of the Egyptians could never have achieved. Who does not, in like manner, rebel against Gods appointed method of pardon? or question the mysterious virtue of Christs atoning blood, and doubt the efficacy of faith, repentance, and prayer?
III. A practical application demanded.
1. What infinite solemnity attaches to all the offices of religion! Death and life are involved. The two hundred and fifty men that offered incense perished: their spirit was bad. What if we bring strange fire! Aarons offering saves life. If awful to preach, so also to hear.
2. How dreadful if the plague be in the heart, and we, unconscious of danger, neglect the remedy! Examine yourselves.
3. What need ministers have for the prayers and sympathies of their people!
4. Rejoice in the absolute sufficiency of salvation applied by the Spirit. (S. Thodey.)
Aaron staying the plague
I. The willingness of Aaron to intercede.
1. Regardless of the plague.
2. Regardless of the peoples enmity.
II. The nature of Aarons intercession.
III. The success of Aarons intercession. Conclusion:
1. Let us tremble at the wrath of an offended God.
2. Let us rejoice in the intercession of our Great High Priest. (J. D. Lane, M. A.)
The plague stayed
I. The evil.
II. The punishment.
1. Divine.
2. By the plague.
(1) Fatal.
(2) Speedily so.
(3) Invariably so.
III. The remedy.
1. In itself, not apparently adapted.
2. Connected with pious intercession.
3. Intercession grounded on sacrifice.
4. Efficient.
(1) Completely.
(2) At once.
Learn:
1. The extreme evil of sin.
2. The riches of the grace of God.
3. The immediate duty of the sinner–to call earnestly on the Lord. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Mercy rejoiceth against judgment
I. Sin and its consequence.
1. The sin of the Israelites was rebellion against God.
2. The terrible visitation.
II. The atonement, and its success.
1. A significant act.
(1) Aaron a type of the Lord Jesus.
(2) He stood between the dead and the living.
(3) Jesus has done more than Aaron.
2. The completeness of His atonement.
II. The special lessons to be derived from hence.
1. The faithful minister of Gods Word dares not withhold the instruction to be derived from it concerning the terrible judgments which ungodly men bring on themselves by continuing in sin against a just and holy God.
2. If the judgment against sin is so terrible to contemplate, how much need have we to accept Gods own way of deliverance! (E. Auriol, M. A.)
He stood between the dead and the living.
The high priest standing between the dead and the living
The whole scene is typical of Christ; and Aaron, as he appears before us in each character, is a most magnificent picture of the Lord Jesus.
I. First, look at Aaron as the lover of the people. See in Aaron the lover of Israel; in Jesus the lover of His people. Aaron deserves to be very highly praised for his patriotic affection for a people who were the most rebellious that ever grieved the heart of a good man. You must remember that in this case he was the aggrieved party. Is not this the very picture of our Lord Jesus? Had not sin dishonoured Him? Was He not the Eternal God, and did not sin therefore conspire against Him as well as against the Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit? Was He not, I say, the one against whom the nations of the earth stood up and said, Let us break His bands asunder, and cast His cords from us? Yet He, our Jesus, laying aside all thought of avenging Himself, becomes the Saviour of His people. Well, you note again, that Aaron in thus coming forward as the deliverer and lover of his people, must have remembered that he was abhorred by this very people. They were seeking his blood; they were desiring to put him and Moses to death, and yet, all thoughtless of danger, he snatches up his censer and runs into their midst with a Divine enthusiasm in his heart. He might have stood back, and said, No, they will slay me if I go into their ranks; furious as they are, they will charge this new death upon me and lay me low. But he never considers it. Into the midst of the crowd he boldly springs. Most blessed Jesus, Thou mightest not only think thus, but indeed Thou didst feel it to be true. Thou wast willing to die a martyr, that Thou mightest be made a sacrifice for those by whom Thy blood was spilt. You will see the love and kindness of Aaron if you look again; Aaron might have said, But the Lord will surely destroy me also with the people; if I go where the shafts of death are flying they will reach me. He never thinks of it; he exposes his own person in the very forefront of the destroying one. Oh, Thou glorious High Priest of our profession, Thou mightest not only have feared this which Aaron might have dreaded, but Thou didst actually endure the plague of God; for when Thou didst come among the people to save them from Jehovahs wrath, Jehovahs wrath fell upon Thee. The sheep escaped, but by His life and blood the Shepherd pays, a ransom for the flock. Oh, Thou lover of thy Church, immortal honours be unto Thee! Aaron deserves to be beloved by the tribes of Israel, because he stood in the gap and exposed himself for their sins; but Thou, most mighty Saviour, Thou shalt have eternal songs, because, forgetful of Thyself, Thou didst bleed and die, that man might be saved! I would again draw your attention to that other thought that Aaron as a lover of the people of Israel deserves much commendation, from the fact that it is expressly said, he ran into the host. That little fact of his running is highly significant, for it shows the greatness and swiftness of the Divine impulse of love that was within. Ah! and was it not so with Christ? Did He not baste to be our Saviour? Were not His delights with the sons of men? Did He not often say, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished? His dying for us was not a thing which He dreaded. With desire have I desired to eat this passover.
II. Now view Aaron as the great propitiator. Wrath had gone out from God against the people on account of their sin, and it is Gods law that His wrath shall never stay unless a propitiation be offered. The incense which Aaron carried in his hand was the propitiation before God, from the fact that God saw in that perfume the type of that richer offering which our Great High Priest is this very day offering before the throne. Aaron as the propitiator is to be looked at first as bearing in his censer that which was necessary for the propitiation. He did not come empty-handed. Even though Gods high priest, he must take the censer; he must fill it with the ordained incense, made with the ordained materials; and then he must light it with the sacred fire from off the altar, and with that alone. Behold, then, Christ Jesus as the propitiator for His people. He stands this day before God with His censer smoking up towards heaven. Behold the Great High Priest! See Him this day with His pierced hands, and head that once was crowned with thorns. Mark how the marvellous smoke of His merits goeth up for ever and ever before the eternal throne. Tis He, tis He alone, who puts away the sins of His people. His incense, as we know, consists first of all of His positive obedience to the Divine law. He kept His Fathers commands; He did everything that man should have done; He kept to the full the whole law of God, and made it honourable. Then mixed with this is His blood–an equally rich and precious ingredient. The blood of His very heart–mixed together with His merits–these make up the incense–an incense incomparable–an incense surpassing all others. Besides that, it was not enough for Aaron to have the proper incense. Korah might have that too, and he might have the censer also. That would not suffice–he must be the ordained priest; for mark, two hundred and fifty men fell in doing the act which Aaron did. Aarons act saved others; their act destroyed themselves. So Jesus, the propitiator, is to be looked upon as the ordained one–called of God as was Aaron. But let us note once more in considering Aaron as the great propitiator, that we must look upon him as being ready for his work. He was ready with his incense, and ran to the work at the moment the plague broke out. The people were ready to perish and he was ready to save. Jesus Christ stands ready to save thee now; there is no need of preparation; He hath slain the victim; He hath offered the sacrifice; He hath filled the censer; He hath put to it the glowing coals. His breastplate is on His breast; His mitre is on His head; He is ready to save thee now. Trust Him, and thou shalt not find need for delay,
III. Now view Aaron as the interposer. Let me explain what I mean. As the old Westminster Annotations say upon this passage, The plague was moving among the people as the fire moveth along a field of corn. There it came; it began in the extremity; the faces of men grew pale, and swiftly on, on it came, and in vast heaps they fell, till some fourteen thousand had been destroyed, Aaron wisely puts himself just in the pathway of the plague. It came on, cutting down all before it, and there stood Aaron the interposer with arms outstretched and censer swinging towards heaven, interposing himself between the darts of death and the people. Just so was it with Christ. Wrath had gone out against us. The law was about to smite us; the whole human race must be destroyed. Christ stands in the forefront of the battle. The stripes must fall on Me! He cries; the arrows shall find a target in My breast. On me, Jehovah, let Thy vengeance fall. And He receives that vengeance, and afterwards upspringing from the grave He waves the censer full of the merit of His blood, and bids this wrath and fury stand back.
IV. Now view Aaron as the saviour. It was Aaron, Aarons censer, that saved the lives of that great multitude. If he had not prayed the plague had not stayed, and the Lord would have consumed the whole company in a moment. As it was, you perceive there were some fourteen thousand and seven hundred that died before the Lord. The plague had begun its dreadful work, and only Aaron could stay it. And now I want you to notice with regard to Aaron, that Aaron, and especially the Lord Jesus, must be looked upon as a gracious Saviour. It was nothing but love that moved Aaron to wave his censer. The people could not demand it of him. Had they not brought a false accusation against him? And yet he saves them. It must have been love and nothing but love. Say, was there anything in the voices of that infuriated multitude which could have moved Aaron to stay the plague from before them? Nothing! nothing in their character! nothing in their looks! nothing in their treatment of Gods High Priest! and yet he graciously stands in the breach, and saves them from the devouring judgment of God! If Christ hath saved us He is a gracious Saviour indeed. And then, again, Aaron was an unaided saviour. He stands alone, alone, alone! and herein was he a great type of Christ who could say, I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Me. Do not think, then, that when Christ prevails with God, it is because of any of your prayers, or tears, or good works. He never puts your tears and prayers into His censer. They would mar the incense. There is nothing but His own prayers, and His own tears, and His own merits there. There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Nor doth He need a helper; He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. He was, then, you will perceive, a gracious Saviour, and an unaided one; and, once more, Aaron as a saviour was all-sufficient. Trust thou thy soul with Christ, and thy sins are at once forgiven, at once blotted out.
V. Aaron as the divider–the picture of Christ. Aaron the anointed one stands here; on that side is death, on this side life; the boundary between life and death is that one man. Where his incense smokes the air is purified, where it smokes not the plague reigns with unmitigated fury. There are two sorts of people here this morning, and these are the living and the dead, the pardoned, the unpardoned, the saved, and the lost. A man in Christ is a Christian; a man out of Christ is dead in trespasses and sins. He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is saved, he that believeth not is lost. Christ is the only divider between His people and the world. On which side, then, art thou to-day? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The plague in the wilderness
I. To say that this evil had its origin in sin, would be to say nothing. All evil proceeds from sin : there is not a pang or sorrow in the universe which has not this as its source. But then suffering owes its existence to sin in various ways. Sometimes it is sent in mercy to prevent sin; thus Paul had a thorn in the flesh lest he should be exalted. At other times it comes to discover sin and subdue it in the Christians heart. Before I was afflicted, says David, I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word. More frequently, however, its design is to answer the purposes of Gods moral government; to punish sin: to manifest the abhorrence in which the great Ruler of the universe holds it, and thus to deter His creatures from the commission of it. And such was its object here. The Israelites had sinned against the Lord; this plague was the punishment of their sin.
1. This offence involved in it an overlooking of Gods providence; at all events, a refusing to acknowledge it. God will not allow us to say for ever, Accident brought this evil on me, chance this disease, a casualty this bereavement, the injustice or treachery of my fellow-man this loss and poverty. Either by His Spirit, or by His providence, or by both, God will drive this atheism out of us. He will force us to say, It is the Lord. He is in this place, and I knew it not. Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
2. The murmuring of these sinners included in it also a daring censure of Gods ways. Whatever God does bears the impress of God. In some way or other it manifests His perfections, and consequently is calculated to bring honour to His name. Now a mind in a right state praises Him for every work of His hands; and it does so on account of the traces of His glory it either discovers in that work, or, though hidden, believes to be there. Indeed, this is Gods great design in all His doings, to draw forth praise from His creatures by revealing to them His excellencies, and thus to surround Himself with a delighted and adoring universe. It follows, then, that to censure any of Gods ways is, as far as in us lies, to frustrate the object at which God aims in these ways; to rob Him of His honour, and worse than this–to asperse His character and vindicate His enemies. And of this offence these Israelites were guilty.
3. There was yet a third evil comprehended in the murmuring of these Israelites; and this was a contempt of Gods warnings. Millions of our race have already perished; the destroying angel is hastening to cut down millions more. The world some of us deem so fair and happy is nothing better than the camp of Israel–a scene of mercy, it is true, but yet a scene of misery, terror, and death. How anxious, then, should we be to look around for a deliverer! Blessed be God, there is One near. This history speaks of Him.
II. Consider now the cessation of the pestilence.
1. It was effected by one who might have been supposed least likely to interfere for such a purpose. Can we fail to discover here the great High Priest of Gods guilty church, the despised and rejected Jesus? Aaron was a type of Him.
2. The cessation of this plague was attended with a display of the most self-denying and ardent love.
3. The cessation of this plague was brought about by means that seemed altogether inadequate, that appeared, in fact, to have no connection at all with the end proposed. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Staying the plague
1. The origin of the judgment here spoken of. Men quickly forget the Almighty.
2. The means adopted to arrest its devastating progress. Mediation.
3. The feelings of gratitude which the removal of the plague must have inspired. (W. C. Le Breton, M. A.)
Standing between the dead and the living
In this, as in all other similar occasions, we perceive the presence of the Eternal Son, preparing the way for that perfect scheme of redemption which was to be unfolded in the fulness of time. Jesus in truth stood between the dead and the living; for Aaron was His delegate and servant: and I would apply the particulars of the present transaction to our own case and circumstances. The plague, then, to which we may now advert is the plague of sin, and the threatened death is the death of the soul. Truly the plague has begun. It began in paradise, and has been raging ever since; and as soon as it broke out, the Lord appeared to intercede and to atone. We can entertain no doubt of the existence of the evil; we cannot look far into the world, not far into the Christian world, without beholding lamentable proof of its ravages: intemperance, profligacy, and even blasphemy, meet us in every quarter; the moral pestilence is positively raging around and within the Christian camp. Nor need we look abroad for proof of this awful fact; we have each of us an evidence in our own bosom. But it was not merely the existence of the plague itself which must have wrought upon the Israelites, and have made them to accept the proffered remedy; it was also that so many lay dead before them; such multitudes of their neighbours and friends had been swept away before their eyes. And have not we, on this ground, many powerful inducements also? Have there not been presented before us in the page of history, yea, in daily report, awful numbers of the human race, to all appearance dying of the plague, dying in their trespasses and sins? Again, as the Israelites saw many destroyed, so did they likewise see many recovered and saved; and that would encourage them to lay hold of the means ordained. We also have similar encouragements under the gospel. It is not altogether a scene of desolation, of heedlessness and ruin; there have been many splendid trophies of Divine grace, many careless sinners awakened and rescued from the grave of destruction. (J. Slade, M. A.)
The living and the dead
Every minister of Jesus Christ, when he stands in the pulpit, stands in the same responsible relation as Aaron did. I stand and look at the living on one side, and on the other I see the dead. The Bible, up and down, declares that an unforgiven soul is dead in trespasses and in sins. What killed the soul? The plague. What kind of a plague–the Asiatic plague? No; the plague of sin. The Asiatic plague was epidemic. It struck one, it struck a great many; and this plague of sin is epidemic. It has touched all nations. It goes from heart to heart, and from house to house; and we are more apt to copy the defects than we are the virtues of character. The whole race is struck through with an awful sickness. Explorers have gone forth, by ship, and reindeer sledge, and on foot, and they have discovered new tribes and villages; but they have never yet discovered a sinless population. On every brow the mark of the plague–in every vein the fever. On both sides of the equator, in all zones, from arctic to antarctic, the plague. Yes, it is contagious. We catch it from our parents. Our children catch it from us. Instead of fourteen thousand seven hundred, there are more than one thousand millions of the dead. As I look off upon the spiritually dead, I see that the scene is loathsome. Now, sometimes you have seen a body after decease more beautiful than in life. The old man looked young again. But when a man perished with the Asiatic plague he became repulsive. There was something about the brow, about the neck, about the lip, about the eye, that was repulsive. And when a man is dead in sin he is repulsive to God. We are eaten of that abominable thing which God hates, and unless we are resuscitated from that condition, we must go out of His sight. But I remark again, that I look off upon the slain of this plague, and I see the scene is one of awful destruction. Gout attacks the foot, ophthalmia the eye, neuralgia the nerves; and there are diseases which take only, as it were, the outposts of the physical castle; but the Asiatic plague demolishes the whole fortress. And so with this plague of sin. It enwraps the whole soul, It is complete destruction–altogether undone, altogether gone astray, altogether dead. When I look upon those who are slain with this plague, I see that they are beyond any human resurrection. Medical colleges have prescribed for this Asiatic plague, but have never yet cured a case. And so I have to tell you that no earthly resurrection can bring up a soul after it is dead in sin. You may galvanise it, and make it move around very strangely; but galvanism and life are infinitely apart. None but the omnipotent God can resurrect it. I go further and say, that every minister of the gospel, when he stands up to preach, stands between the living and the dead of the great future. Two worlds, one on either side of us: the one luminous, the other dark; the one a princely and luxuriant residence, the other an incarceration. Standing between the living who have entered upon their eternal state, and the dead who shall tarry in their eternal decease, I am this moment. Oh, the living, the living, I think of them to-night. Your Christian dead have not turned into thin clouds and floated off into the immensities. Living, bounding, acting, they are waiting for you. Living! Never to die. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The prevailing Intercessor
Such was our High Priest who perceived that, on account of mans transgression, wrath was gone forth from the presence of the Lord, and that the plague was begun among the people. And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore He arrayed Himself in the holy garments of glory and beauty; He put on a breastplate of righteousness, and a robe of inviolable sanctity, and He was clad, over all, with zeal as a cloak. He was anointed with the oil of gladness, with the Holy Ghost, and with power; and on His head was a crown of salvation and glory. Thus adorned and fitted for the work, He put on, for incense, the merits of His sufferings. He ran into the midst of Gods people as a Mediator, interposing Himself between the parties at variance, in order to reconcile them. He met the burning wrath, and turned it aside from all believers. And so the plague is stayed. A stop is put to the progress of everlasting destruction. There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And can anything, then, prevent our accepting this atonement, and thankfully receiving the benefits of this intercession? Nothing can, but an utter ignorance of our sin, and of our danger. Could a dying Israelite have been prevailed upon, think you, to reject the atonement and intercession of Aaron? No, surely. Only see how hope revives in their countenances, and joy sparkles in their eyes, all turned and fixed upon him in the execution of his priestly office. And why? Because they were sensible of their wretched and perilous estate. They needed not to be told that they were expiring by the pestilence. Oh, why are not we so? Why do we hear of the atonement and intercession of the Holy Jesus with so much cold indifference? Why, but because we see not, we know not, we feel not the want of them. And yet, what is there, within us, or without us, that doth not teach and show it us? To tell you that the world is full of sorrow, is no news; to tell you that the world is full of sin, is, I presume, no news. And from what would you desire to be delivered, if not from sin and sorrow? What, in point of wretchedness, was the camp of Israel with the pestilence in the midst of it, if compared to such a world as this? Go, thou who art tempted to reject, or to neglect the satisfaction of Christ, go to the bed of sickness, ask him who lies racked with pain, and trembling at the thoughts of the wrath to come, what his opinion is concerning the doctrine of atonement; and observe how the name of a Saviour and Intercessor puts comfort and gladness into his affrighted soul, at a time when the treasures and the crowns of eastern kings would be utterly contemned, as equally vain, worthless, and unprofitable, with the dust of the earth. (Bp. Horne.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 41. On the morrow all the congregation – murmured] It is very likely that the people persuaded themselves that Moses and Aaron had used some cunning in this business, and that the earthquake and fire were artificial; else, had they discerned the hand of God in this punishment, could they have dared the anger of the Lord in the very face of justice?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Prodigious wickedness and madness, so soon to forget such a terrible instance of Divine vengeance!
Ye have killed; you, who should have preserved them, and interceded for them, have pulled down Gods wrath upon them, for the maintenance of your own authority and interest.
The people of the Lord; so they call those wicked wretches, and rebels against God; which shows the power of passion and prejudice to corrupt mens judgment.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
41. the children of Israel murmuredagainst Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people ofthe LordWhat a strange exhibition of popular prejudice andpassionto blame the leaders for saving the rebels! Yet Moses andAaron interceded for the peoplethe high priest perilling his ownlife in doing good to that perverse race.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But on the morrow,…. The day following the dreadful catastrophe, the earth swallowing up Dathan and Abiram, and all that belonged to them, the burning of Korah and the two hundred fifty men of his company:
all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses,
and against Aaron; not the princes and heads of the people only, but the whole body of them; though the above persons that murmured against them had but the day before been made such dreadful examples of divine vengeance. This is a most surprising instance of the corruption and depravity of human nature, of the blindness, hardness, and stupidity of the hearts of men, which nothing but the grace of God can remove; the images of the awful sights many of them had seen must be strong in their minds; the shrieks of the wretched creatures perishing must be as yet as it were in their ears; the smell of the fire was scarce out of their nostrils; and yet, notwithstanding this shocking scene of things, they fell into the same evil, and murmur against the men, whose authority, being called in question, had been confirmed by the above awful instances:
saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord; so they called the rebels, and hereby justified them in all the wickedness they had been guilty of; and though their death was so manifestly by the immediate hand of God, yet they lay it to the charge of Moses and Aaron, because it was in vindication of them that it was done, and because they did not intercede by prayer for them; though it is certain they did all they could to reclaim them from their sin, and prevent their ruin; yet the people insist on it that they were the cause or occasion of their death, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan express it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Punishment of the Murmuring Congregation. – The judgment upon the company of Korah had filled the people round about with terror and dismay, but it had produced no change of heart in the congregation that had risen up against its leaders. The next morning the whole congregation began to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and to charge them with having slain the people of Jehovah. They referred to Korah and his company, but especially to the 250 chiefs of renown, whom they regarded as the kernel of the nation, and called “the people of Jehovah.” They would have made Moses and Aaron responsible for their death, because in their opinion it was they who had brought the judgment upon their leaders; whereas it was through the intercession of Moses (Num 16:22) that the whole congregation was saved from the destruction which threatened it. To such an extent does the folly of the proud heart of man proceed, and the obduracy of a race already exposed to the judgment of God.
Num 16:42 When the congregation assembled together, Moses and Aaron turned to the tabernacle, and saw how the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. As the cloud rested continually above the tabernacle during the time of encampment (Num 9:18.; Exo 40:38), we must suppose that at this time the cloud covered it in a fuller and much more conspicuous sense, just as it had done when the tabernacle was first erected (Num 9:15; Exo 40:34), and that at the same time the glory of God burst forth from the dark cloud in a miraculous splendour.
Num 16:43-50 Thereupon they both went into the court of ( , as in Lev 9:5) the tabernacle, and God commanded them to rise up ( , Niphal of = ; see Ges. 65, Anm. 5) out of this congregation, which He would immediately destroy. But they fell upon their faces in prayer, as in Num 16:21-22. This time, however, they could not avert the bursting forth of the wrathful judgment, as they had done the day before (Num 16:22). The plague had already commenced, when Moses told Aaron to take the censer quickly into the midst of the congregation, with coals and incense ( , imper. Hiph.), to make expiation for it with an incense-offering. And when this was done, and Aaron placed himself between the dead and the living, the plague, which had already destroyed 14,700 men, was stayed. The plague consisted apparently of a sudden death, as in the case of a pestilence raging with extreme violence, though we cannot regard it as an actual pestilence.
The means resorted to by Moses to stay the plague showed afresh how the faithful servant of God bore the rescue of his people upon his heart. All the motives which he had hitherto pleaded, in his repeated intercession that this evil congregation might be spared, were now exhausted. He could not stake his life for the nation, as at Horeb (Exo 32:32), for the nation had rejected him. He could no longer appeal to the honour of Jehovah among the heathen, seeing that the Lord, even when sentencing the rebellious race to fall in the desert, had assured him that the whole earth should be filled with His glory (Num 14:20.). Still less could he pray to God that He would not be wrathful with all for the sake of one or a few sinners, as in Num 16:22, seeing that the whole congregation had taken part with the rebels. In this condition of things there was but one way left of averting the threatened destruction of the whole nation, namely, to adopt the means which the Lord Himself had given to His congregation, in the high-priestly office, to wipe away their sins, and recover the divine grace which they had forfeited through sin, – viz., the offering of incense which embodied the high-priestly prayer, and the strength and operation of which were not dependent upon the sincerity and earnestness of subjective faith, but had a firm and immovable foundation in the objective force of the divine appointment. This was the means adopted by the faithful servant of the Lord, and the judgment of wrath was averted in its course; the plague was averted. – The effectual operation of the incense-offering of the high priest also served to furnish the people with a practical proof of the power and operation of the true and divinely appointed priesthood. “The priesthood which the company of Korah had so wickedly usurped, had brought down death and destruction upon himself, through his offering of incense; but the divinely appointed priesthood of Aaron averted death and destruction from the whole congregation when incense was offered by him, and stayed the well-merited judgment, which had broken forth upon it” ( Kurtz).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
Here is, I. A new rebellion raised the very next day against Moses and Aaron. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and wonder, O earth! Was there ever such an instance of the incurable corruption of sinners? On the morrow (v. 41) the body of the people mutinied. 1. Though they were so lately terrified by the sight of the punishment of the rebels. The shrieks of those sinking sinners, those sinners against their own souls, were yet sounding in their ears, the smell of the fire yet remained, and the gaping earth was scarcely thoroughly closed, and yet the same sins were re-acted and all these warnings slighted. 2. Though they were so lately saved from sharing in the same punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owed their preservation. Their charge runs very high: You have killed the people of the Lord. Could any thing have been said more unjustly and maliciously? They canonize the rebels, calling those the people of the Lord who died in arms against him. They stigmatize divine justice itself. It was plain enough that Moses and Aaron had no hand in their death (they did what they could to save them), so that in charging them with murder they did in effect charge God himself with it. The continued obstinacy of this people, notwithstanding the terrors of God’s law as it was given on Mount Sinai, and the terrors of his judgments as they were here executed on the disobedient, shows how necessary the grace of God is to the effectual change of men’s hearts and lives, without which the most likely means will never attain the end. Love will do what fear could not.
II. God’s speedy appearance against the rebels. When they had gathered against Moses and Aaron, perhaps with a design to depose or murder them, they looked towards the tabernacle, as if their misgiving consciences expected some frowns thence, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared (v. 42), for the protection of his servants, and the confusion of his and their accusers and adversaries. Moses and Aaron thereupon came before the tabernacle, partly for their own safety (there they took sanctuary from the strife of tongues, Psa 27:5; Psa 31:20), and partly for advice, to know what was the mind of God upon this occasion, v. 43. Justice hereupon declares that they deserve to be consumed in a moment, v. 45. Why should those live an other day who hate to be reformed, and whose rebellions are their daily practices? Let just vengeance take place and do its work, and the trouble will soon be over; only Moses and Aaron must first be secured.
III. The intercession which Moses and Aaron made for them. Though they had as much reason, one would think, as Elias had to make intercession against Israel (Rom. xi. 2), yet they forgive and forget the indignities offered them, and are the best friends their enemies have. 1. They both fell on their faces, humbly to intercede with God for mercy, knowing how great the provocation was. This they had done several times before, upon similar occasions; and, though the people had basely requited them for it, yet, God having graciously accepted them, they still have recourse to the same method. This is praying always. 2. Moses, perceiving that the plague had begun in the congregation of the rebels (that is, that body of them which was gathered against Moses), sent Aaron by an act of his priestly office to make atonement for them, v. 46. And Aaron readily went and burned incense between the living and the dead, not to purify the infected air, but to pacify an offended God, and so stayed the progress of the judgment. By this it appeared, (1.) That Aaron was a very good man, and a man that had a true love for the children of his people, though they hated and envied him. Though God was now avenging his quarrel and pleading the cause of his priesthood, yet he interposes to turn away God’s wrath. Nay, forgetting his age and gravity, he ran into the midst of the congregation to help them. He did not say, “Let them smart awhile, and then, when I come, I shall be the more welcome;” but, as one tender of the life of every Israelite, he makes all possible speed into the gap at which death was entering. Moses and Aaron, who had been charged with killing the people of the Lord, might justly have upbraided them now; could they expect those to be their saviours whom they had so invidiously called their murderers? But those good men have taught us here by their example not to be sullen towards those that are peevish with us, nor to take the advantage which men give us by their provoking language to deny them any real kindness which it is in the power of our hands to do them. We must render good for evil. (2.) That Aaron was a very bold man–bold to venture into the midst of an enraged rabble that were gathered together against him, and who, for aught he knew, might be the more exasperated by the plague that had begun–bold to venture into the midst of the infection, where the arrows of death flew thickest, and hundreds, nay thousands, were falling on the right hand and on the left. To save their lives he put his own into his hand, not counting it dear to him, so that he might but fulfil his ministry. (3.) That Aaron was a man of God, and ordained for men, in things pertaining to God. His call to the priesthood was hereby abundantly confirmed and set above all contradiction; God had not only saved his life when the intruders were cut off, but now made him an instrument for saving Israel. Compare the censer of Aaron here with the censers of those sinners against their own souls. Those provoked God’s anger, this pacified it; those destroyed men’s lives, this saved them; no room therefore is left to doubt of Aaron’s call to the priesthood. Note, Those make out the best title to public honours that lay out themselves the most for public good and obtain mercy of the Lord to be faithful and useful. If any man will be great, let him make himself the servant of all. (4.) That Aaron was a type of Christ, who came into the world to make an atonement for sin and to turn away the wrath of God from us, and who, by his mediation and intercession, stands between the living and the dead, to secure his chosen Israel to himself, and save them out of the midst of a world infected with sin and the curse.
IV. The result and issue of the whole matter. 1. God’s justice was glorified in the death of some. Great execution the sword of the Lord did in a very little time. Though Aaron made all the haste he could, yet, before he could reach his post of service, there were 14,700 men laid dead upon the spot, v. 49. There were but few comparatively that died about the matter of Korah, the ring-leaders only were made examples; but, the people not being led to repentance by the patience and forbearance of God with them, justice is not now so sparing of the blood of Israelites. They complained of the death of a few hundreds as an unmerciful slaughter made among the people of the Lord, but here God silences that complaint by the slaughter of many thousands. Note, Those that quarrel with less judgments prepare greater for themselves; for when God judges he will overcome. 2. His mercy was glorified in the preservation of the rest. God showed them what he could do by his power, and what he might do in justice, but then showed them what he would do in his love and pity: he would, notwithstanding all this, preserve them a people to himself in and by a mediator. The cloud of Aaron’s incense coming from his hand stayed the plague. Note, It is much for the glory of God’s goodness that many a time even in wrath he remembers mercy. And, even when judgments have been begun, prayer puts a stop to them; so ready is he to forgive, and so little pleasure does he take in the death of sinners.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 41-43:
Many in Israel were not convinced by the dramatic display of judgment against Korah and his co-conspirators, that Moses and Aaron were the Divine choice for leadership. They regarded the episode as a personal conflict between two contenders for authority.
In referring to Korah and his companions as the “people of the Lord” they placed the rebels on a par with Moses and Aaron, whom they charged with murder. The people generally had not learned the lessons God intended they should. They failed to realize that their own lives had been spared solely because of the intercession of the two they were accusing of murder.
As the mob confronted Moses and Aaron, their attention was drawn to the Tabernacle once again. The cloud of God’s Presence which normally hovered above the Tabernacle had descended to cover it, indicating that Jehovah was about to speak.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
41. But on the morrow all the congregation. There is something more than monstrous in this madness of theirs. The conflagration was yet smoking, wherein God had appeared as the awful avenger of pride: the chasm in which the leaders of the rebellion had been swallowed up, must still have been almost before their eyes. God had commanded the plates to be molten, which might record that severe judgment through many succeeding ages. All had confessed by their alarm and hasty flight that there was danger lest they should themselves also be exposed to similar punishments. Yet, on the next day, am if they desired deliberately to provoke God, who was still, as it were, armed, they accuse God’s holy servants of having been the authors of the destruction, though they had never lifted a finger against their enemies. Was it in the power of Moses to command the earth to open? Could he draw down the fire from heaven at his will? Since, then, both the chasm and the fire were manifest tokens of God’s wonderful power, why do not these madmen reflect that they are engaging in fatal warfare against Him? For to what purpose was this extraordinary mode of punishment, except that in their terror they might learn to humble themselves beneath God’s hand? Yet hence did they only derive greater wildness in their audacity, as if they desired to perish voluntarily with these sinners, whose punishment they had just been shuddering at. In two ways they betray their senselessness; first, by substituting Moses and Aaron as guilty of the murder, in place of God; and, secondly, by sanctifying these putrid corpses, as if in despite of God. They accuse Moses and Aaron of the slaughter, of which God had plainly shown Himself to be the author, as they themselves had been compelled to feel. But such is the blindness of the reprobate with respect to God’s works, that His glory rather stupifies them than excites their admiration. The foulest ingratitude was also added; for they do not consider that only a very few hours had elapsed since they had been preserved by the intercession of Moses from impending destruction. Thus, in their desire to avenge the death of a few, they call those the killers of the people of the Lord, to whom they ought to have been grateful for the safety of all. Again, what arrogance it is to count among the people of God, as if against His will, those reprobates, when He had not only cut them off from His Church, but had also exterminated them from the world, and from the human race! But thus do the wicked wax wanton against God under the very cover of His gifts, and especially they do not hesitate to mock Him with empty titles and outward signs, as the masks of their iniquity.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
E. THE FATAL PLAGUE vv. 4150
TEXT
Num. 16:41. But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. 42. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 45. Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 16:41. But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. 42. And it happened when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron that they looked toward the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43. Then Moses and Aaron came before the Tent of Meeting.
44. And the Lord said to Moses, Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them immediately. 45. And they all fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire from the altar in it, and put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation to make atonement for them;
46. for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the plague has begun. 47. And Aaron took the censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. Therefore, he put incense on the censer, and made atonement for the people. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living so that the plague was stopped. 49. Now all those who had died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the incident of Korah. 50. Then Aaron returned to Moses, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been ended.
COMMENTARY
While the incident given in closing chapter sixteen may almost seem to be an epilogue to the account of Korah and the rebels, it is only partly so. The multitude had had no part in the rebellion, and should have been convinced by the dramatic visit of divine justice that Moses conduct was altogether acceptable to the Lord, and that the destruction was nothing less than deserved. Had the matter been left here, the story would have had a different end. But, with the unpredictability of human nature, the crowd now proved to be most fickle as they hurled bitter charges against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of having killed the people of the Lord! Such a judgment cannot be justified, under any circumstances. True, the lives of a number of people have been taken, but they have suffered a self-imposed condemnation; and the people themselves were spared only because Moses and Aaron had interposed for them, eliciting Gods instructions that they all should withdraw from the proximity of the destruction (Num. 16:26). Since the 250 men had been very important men in the community, their loss would be a serious blow. But it should not have obscured the issues themselves, which the people have now forgotten.
While the protest is being lodged with Moses and Aaron, God again takes decisive action, appearing in a covering cloud at the tabernacle. From this covering, His words issue a call for the two faithful men to separate themselves again from the murmurers. Quickly, Aaron is dispatched to offer incense in behalf of the offenders, to prevent their death, And what is the plague which has already begun to ravage the camp? Our information is inadequate, but it seems to have been a direct visit of death upon them. In a very brief time, 14,700 had been victims. That there were not many more is directly due to the quick actions of Aaron at the instruction of Moses. For so fierce a visitation to have ended so suddenly would leave no doubt whatever but that God heard the intercession of His servants once again; the surviving people owed their very lives once more to the men of whom they had been most severely critical.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
308.
By what sort of logic could the congregation hold Moses and Aaron responsible for the death sentence executed upon the rebels?
309.
Why would the loss of these 250 men be a special blow against the life of the community?
310.
The Law prescribed no such service as Aarons special incense offering, made on this occasion. Why should it have been effectual?
311.
What do we know about the kind of plague which visited the people?
312.
Explain the scripture saying that Aaron stood between the dead and the living in giving his offering.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(41) But on the morrow . . . It is difficult to conceive of a more striking illustration of the depravity of the human heart than is afforded by this outbreak of the same spirit of rebellion which had been so signally punished on the preceding day.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE MURMURERS, THE PLAGUE, AND THE ATONEMENT, Num 16:41-50.
41. On the morrow all murmured The spiritual stupidity and obstinacy of Israel on this occasion is truly astonishing. The divine judgments, which alarm believers and deter them from sin, only harden the impenitent. This is an example of the conduct of persons abandoned by the Holy Spirit, and given over to hardness of heart. For at Kadesh adult Israel passed the boundary between God’s mercy and his wrath. It is supposed that they wickedly attributed the awful judgment of the day before to some sort of magical incantation or mechanical contrivance on the part of Moses and Aaron. This is intimated in the charge ye have killed. Had they discerned the hand of Jehovah in the opening earth and consuming fire they could not have ascribed the destruction to a human cause. Men hopelessly hardened in heart are bereft of all power of moral discernment, putting good for evil and evil for good. Hence defiant rebels against Jehovah, who have been swallowed up in their sins, are impiously styled the people of the Lord. They charged upon their leaders the terrible judgment which had descended upon the insurgents; whereas, it was through the intercession of Moses that the whole congregation was not at once destroyed! It is evident that they were smitten with judicial blindness, incapacitating for correct judgments.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Congregation Blame Moses and Aaron for the Fire and Pit ( Num 16:41-43 ).
Num 16:41
‘But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of Yahweh.” ’
As would be expected the incidents of that day were the talking point of the camp. It may well be that the rebels had given the people new hope, even if it was probably groundless, and thus what had happened angered them. It had been one thing for Moses and Aaron to devastate Pharaoh and Egypt, quite another when they used their strange powers to attack the people of Yahweh. They felt that a part of them had been cut off. Many would not forget the dreadful sight of the pit opening up and the fire coming from heaven.
So the next day the camp was seething with anger and discontent. And they charged Moses and Aaron with killing ‘the people of Yahweh’. They had seemingly been convinced by the claims made by Korah. Here, they believed, were holy men whom Moses and Aaron had chosen to destroy. This reveals how deeply the rebels had seized the hearts of the people, and how much Moses and Aaron had lost face as a result of the debacle of the invasion of the land.
Num 16:42
‘And it came about that, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the tent of meeting, and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared.’
As a result they gathered together around the Dwellingplace where they were planning to have it out with Moses and Aaron. But as they looked towards the Tent of meeting they saw the cloud descend and cover it and the appearance of the glory of Yahweh. It would remind them of what had happened days before (Num 16:19), which had resulted in all that they were complaining about. They should have taken warning that when this happened at times when Moses and Aaron were being castigated, it was a sign of worse to come. Instead of being the welcome sight that it would have been when they were at peace with God and His chosen servants, it was a warning of what could lie ahead.
Num 16:43
‘And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.’
Then Moses and Aaron appeared, and came to the front of the Tent of meeting. They were ready to face any threat that might appear.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Rebellion and the Punishment of the Congregation.
v. 41. But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. v. 42. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, v. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, v. 44. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 45. Get you up from among this congregation, v. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar of burnt offering, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun, v. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people, v. 48. And he stood, v. 49. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
v. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE PLAGUE BEGUN AND AVERTED (Num 16:41-50).
Num 16:41
Ye have killed the people of the Lord. They bad in truth forfeited their own lives, and Moses and Aaron had no more part in their death than St. Peter had in the death of Ananias and Sapphira. But it was easy to represent the matter as a personal conflict between two parties, in which the one had triumphed by destroying the other. In speaking of Korah and his company as the “people of the Lord,” they meant to say that their lives were as sacred as the lives of Moses and Aaron, and the crime of taking them as great; they did not know, or did not heed, that their own immunity was due to the intercession of those whom they thus charged with sacrilegious murder.
Num 16:42
The cloud covered it. Not soaring above it, as usual, but lying close down upon it, to signify that the presence of the Lord had passed in some special sense into the tabernacle (see on Num 12:5, Num 12:10).
Num 16:45
Get you up. , from . The command is substantially the same as that in Num 16:21. Since it was not obeyed, we must conclude (as before) that it was not intended to be obeyed. They fell on their faces. In horror and dismay. No doubt they would have interceded (as in Num 16:22), but that Moses perceived through some Divine intimation that wrath had gone forth, and that some more prevailing form of mediation than mere words must be sought.
Num 16:46
Take a censer. Rather, “the censer,” i.e; the proper censer of the high priest, which he used upon the great day of atonement (Le Num 16:12), and which is said in Heb 9:4 to have been of gold, and to have been kept in the most holy place. It is not, however, mentioned amongst the sacred furniture in the Levitical books. And go quickly. Rather, “take it quickly.” And make an atonement for them. There was no precedent for making an incense offering alter this fashion, but it was on the analogy of the rite performed within the tabernacle on the day of atonement (Lev 16:1-34). Whether Moses received any intimation that the wroth might be thus averted, or whether it was the daring thought of a devoted heart when all else failed, it is impossible to say. As it had no precedent, so it never serous to have been repeated; nor is the name or idea of atonement anywhere else connected with the offering of incense apart kern the shedding of blood.
Num 16:48
And he stood between the dead and the living. If this is to be understood literally, as seems most consistent with the character of the narrative, then the plague must have been strictly local in its character; striking down its victims in one quarter before passing on to another; only thus could it be arrested by tile actual interposition of Aaron with the smoking censer. And the plague was stayed. Thus was given to the people the most striking and public proof of the saving efficacy of that mediatorial and intercessory office which they had been ready to invade and to reject. Thus also was it shown that what in profane hands was a savour of death unto death, became when rightly and lawfully used a savour of life unto life.
Num 16:49
Fourteen thousand and seven hundred. A very large number to have died in the course of a few minutes, as the narrative seems to imply. The plague was undoubtedly of a supernatural character, and cannot be considered as a pestilence or other natural visitation. Beside them that died about the matter of Korah. These were
(1) the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense,
(2) Dathan and Abiram, and their families,
(3) probably Korah himself,
(4) possibly some other partisans of Korah (see on Num 16:32), making in all about 300 souls.
Thus we get the round number of 15,000 as the total of those that perished on this occasion.
Num 16:50
And the plague was stayed. Not only temporarily, while Aaron stood between the dead and the living, but finally and effectually.
HOMILETICS
Num 16:41-50
THE PRIESTLY ATONEMENT
We see in this section the priesthood of the anointed at once exercised and vindicated in the fullest and highest sense by shielding from wrath and death those who were appointed to die on account of sin. The spiritual meaning so far and so plainly eclipses the literal that we might well suppose the passage to have been written in the light of the finished work of Christ; as it is, we cannot possibly refuse to read the “mind of the Spirit” testifying before of the atonement and intercession of our High Priest. Consider, therefore
I. THAT WRATH HAD GONE FORTH AGAINST ALL ISRAEL BECAUSE OF THEIR ACTIVE OR PASSIVE PARTICIPATION IN REBELLION AGAINST THE WILL AND ORDINANCE OF GOD. Even so had wrath gone forth against all mankind, for that all were compromised (albeit not all to the same degree, or by the same deliberate choice) in sin and rebellion (Rom 5:12, Rom 5:14; Rom 11:32; Eph 2:3).
II. THAT MOSES DID NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO PRAY AT THIS TIME FOR ISRAEL, BECAUSE THE SENTENCE WAS GONE FORTH, AND EVEN HIS PRAYER HAD BEEN UNAVAILING. Even so, however much the intercessions of righteous men may have been heard in other and lesser matters (Jas 5:16 b.), yet could not any. human means avail to turn aside from us the sentence of death which follows upon sin (Gen 2:17; Psa 49:7, Psa 49:8; Rom 6:23; Rom 7:24). And note that as far as we can see even the incarnate Son had not saved us as Lawgiver and Ruler except his intercessions had been based upon his meritorious cross and passion. Moses must give place to Aaron here.
III. THAT THE PLAGUE ADVANCED ALL THE WHILE WITH FRIGHTFUL CELERITY. Even so sin and death made havoc of an evil world ere Christ came forth to stay the plague (Rom 1:1-32, Rom 3:1-31, Rom 5:1-21). And still, where it is not stayed, its progress is as rapid and as irresistible as ever. Thousands are daily swept away to destruction.
IV. THAT THE FERVENT, SELF–SACRIFICING LOVE OF MOSES FOR HIS PEOPLE (WHO HAD OPPOSED AND REJECTED HIM) DEVISED THIS NEW REMEDY, UNKNOWN BEFORE. Even so it was the infinite, self-abasing love of the eternal Son which devised the means of our salvation, albeit we had rebelled against him and cast off his dominion (Psa 2:2, Psa 2:3, Psa 2:12; Luk 19:14; Joh 3:16; Act 3:26; Rom 5:8; 1Jn 4:10).
V. THAT THIS REMEDY WAS FOUND IN AN INCENSE OFFERING
(1) MADE BY AARON,
(2) IN THE CENSER,
(3) AMONG THE DYING PEOPLE.
Even so the one Divine deliverance from eternal death is
(1) in the high priestly intercession of Christ,
(2) offered in the golden censer of his infinite merits,
(3) offered “in the midst of the congregation,” i.e; in our nature, wherein he lived and died, and in which he ever liveth to make intercession (Luk 23:34; Joh 17:19, Joh 17:20; Rom 5:9, Rom 5:10; Heb 2:12-17; Heb 7:24, Heb 7:25; Rev 8:3, Rev 8:4).
VI. THAT THE INCENSE WAS TO BE LIGHTED WITH FIRE FROM OFF THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING, otherwise it had been as ineffectual for good as the offering of Nadab and Abihu (Le Num 10:1). Even so the intercessions of Christ whereby we live are not only offered as of his infinite merits, but as based upon his one perfect and sufficient sacrifice. It is fire from the altar of the cross which kindles and makes to ascend in fragrance his “much incense” before the throne. From another point of view it is the burning love which prompted and inspired his death which inspires and kindles his unceasing intercession for us.
VII. THAT AARON RAN INTO THE CAMP TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR THE PEOPLE, REGARDLESS OF ANY DANGER TO HIMSELF. Even so our Lord hasted in his great zeal to expose himself to all danger in our midst in order to work out our salvation.
VIII. THAT AARON STOOD BETWEEN THE DEAD AND THE LIVINGall on one side of him (as it should seem) dead, all on the other side alive, through his intervention. Even so our High Priest stands, and stands alone, between us and death. Nothing separates us from the eternally lost but the saving efficacy of his intercession; had he not appeared upon the scene we too had perished. Moreover, he stands between the living and the dead in this sense, that all souls are divided by him and his cross into two lots, the living who accept, the dead who reject him. Thus he hung between the penitent and impenitent robbers, and thus he will place the goats and the sheep on the one side of him and on the other.
IX. THAT THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED BY AARON‘S INTERPOSITION OF HIMSELF BETWEEN IT AND ITS VICTIMS. Even so Christ has averted death from us, and taken away its sting, by placing himself between it and us, by interposing between the wrath of Heaven and our souls (Rom 7:25; Rom 8:1). And so long as we are sheltered behind his atonement and intercession we are absolutely safe.
X. THAT AARON, AFTER MAKING AN ATONEMENT, RETURNED TO THE MOST HOLY PLACE WITH HIS CENSER (cf. Heb 9:4). Even so our Lord, after making atonement for us upon the cross, and breaking the empire of sin and death, returned to that heaven from which he came, leaving us free from the power of death.
XI. THAT THIS WAS THE GLORIOUS VINDICATION OF AARON‘S PRIESTLY OFFICE, IN THAT IT BROUGHT LIFE AND DELIVERANCE TO THE VERY MEN WHO HAD DESPISED AND SLANDERED IT. How much better and more effectual than if a thousand Korahs had been slain by reason of it! Even so the true vindication of the priesthood of Christ, in whatsoever sense or by whomsoever assailed, is its marvelous and ever-living efficacy for the healing of sinners, and for their salvation from spiritual death. Those that are ready to strive against it to the uttermost today will know themselves beholden to it for life and liberty tomorrow. Whatever belongs to the priesthood of Christ must here, and here only, find its defense and confirmation, not in smiting down them that oppose themselves (which is of the law only), but in saving them from the fatal consequences of their own sin and blindness (which is of the gospel alone). Cf. Luk 9:55, Luk 9:56; Joh 12:47; 2Co 10:8; 2Co 13:10; Gal 1:23; 1Ti 2:4.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Num 16:41-50
THE PRIESTHOOD STILL FURTHER HONOURED AND ESTABLISHED
I. THE PEOPLE REMAIN UNCHANGED IN HEART. They had been terrified for the moment, and fled to what they thought a safe distance, but by the morrow all their audacity has returned. It would seem as if men soon become accustomed to even the most terrible visitations of God; and the more they see of his doings, the less able they are to understand them. There was a time when such destruction as they had gazed on would have taught them caution for more than a day, but now a day is quite sufficient to make them bolder than ever. The evidential value which Moses had pointed out in Num 16:28-30 is quite lost upon them. Perverse minds disregard the clearest evidence. It may be a good thing for some purposes to multiply evidences of Christianity, but if the whole earth were filled with books written on the subject, many would remain unconvinced. The conduct of these people, so quickly murmuring again, may seem scarcely credible as we read it, yet are they in reality worse than unbelievers now? If we also read of these things that happened to Israel of old, and are not in the least impressed by them, then what are we different in our folly and audacity? The lapse of more than three thousand years has not made God less jealous of his ordinances, less able and determined to punish those who slight them. Fearful things are spoken of those who crucify the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. Instead of marveling at Israel, we shall do well to see in it, as in a mirror, the perversity, blindness, and frivolity of the natural man everywhere. As Israel was, so are we, until and unless God puts within us a new and different life.
II. A STILL FURTHER RECOGNITION OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE. One is not astonished to read that simultaneously with the gathering of the murmuring people, the glory of the Lord appeared again. Hitherto there has been some little interval, some time as it were for repentance, but now along with this high pitch of audacity, it is fitting that the revelation of the glory should be prompt, and prompt also the vindication of what God had but lately done. Once again he warns Moses and Aaron out of the way of death. And now what can Moses do, for his pleas are exhausted? The people have gone on sinning, until at last the ingenuity of Iris pitying heart has nothing left to say. In this extremity he turns where all must turn at last, name]y, to the atonement for sin which God has solemnly appointed. Probably in the first institution of the priestly office he did not comprehend all the power and blessing it could confer. He was now to know, and Israel with him, that atonement for sin, made through the appointed officer, had a most certain effect in destroying some, at least, of the consequences of sin. The atonement made under the law sets forth that more efficacious and searching atonement lying at the foundation of the gospel, but it was not, therefore, a mere form. It could not indeed cleanse the conscience or change the life, but it was effectual to keep back the plague that brought physical death. In the light of the honour which God here puts upon his priest, and the real effect produced by this offering for sin, how clearly we see the real effect that must come from the work of Jesus! If Aaron, the feeble, sinful type, could do so much, how much more we are bound to expect from Jesus, the sinless, perfect antitype!
III. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AARON‘S POSITION. He stood between the dead and the living. What a quickly destructive power sin has! The language indicates that Moses and Aaron were full of alacrity. Not a moment was lost in interposing the atoning service, but even so more than fourteen thousand of the people had already perished. The connection between sin and death is very close, and in such a visitation as this the closeness is made very clear. It may seem constantly contradicted, that in the day men eat of the forbidden fruit they shall surely die, but the contradiction is in appearance only. In the sinful act death is begun, and if God so chooses, its full power may be very quickly manifested. Thus when Aaron went in he found death had been before him, and he had to stand between the dead and the living. It was from the dead that the plague passed greedily on to the living, like the licking fire from the black ruins where it has done its work to the firings still unconsumed. But the moment Aaron enters, the atonement begins to work. The very fact that so many had perished, and so rapidly, glorifies the efficacy of his intervention. Sin is then at once in check. It was a noble position for the priest to occupy, and we should think of it as occupied by Jesus. He indeed stands between the dead and the living. As we gaze upon those wrecked and ruined ones, fast settled in despair, and beyond any succour that we can discern, Christ stands between us and them to give assurance that with him there is power to deliver us from such a fate. It is his great and glorious power to deliver us from death by giving to us a new and higher life, and giving it more abundantly, that mortality may be swallowed up of life (2Co 5:4).Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Num 16:41. All the congregation of the children of Israel murmured So exemplary a judgment, one should think, would have been sufficient to silence all future murmurings and discontent; yet it had a different effect upon this obstinate and intractable race of men. The very next day they ran upon Moses and Aaron with tumultuous outcries and accusations, charging them with the destruction of such a number of their brethren, the members of God’s own church and peculiar nation: ye have killed the people of the Lord. Zealots of all kinds generally deem their own cause, however bad, the cause of God; and the friends and leaders of their party, the people of the Lord, the favourites of heaven.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The man that hath not studied human nature very closely, and yet more especially hath not been taught by the HOLY GHOST the great evil of sin, and the plague of his own heart, will be astonished that a mutiny after such a tremendous judgment as had but just taken place, should, again break out. The earth was scarce closed. The fire of GOD was still, as it were, burning before them. The shrieks of the people buried alive were still sounding in their ears. Reader, I pray GOD that such a view of human nature, and the hardness and obduracy of the heart, may in the hand of the LORD teach us, that nothing short of GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT can soften and conquer the soul. Oh LORD! write upon my mind and enforce its observance, that precept of the apostles: Heb 3:12-13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 16:41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
Ver. 41. But on the morrow. ] That after conviction they should so soon again rebel, and run away with the bit in their mouths, was prodigious contumacy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
on the morrow: It is not unlikely, that the people persuaded themselves that Moses and Aaron had used some cunning in this business and that the earthquake and fire were artificial; for, had they discerned the hand of God in this punishment, they would scarcely have dared the anger of the Lord in the very face of his justice. And while they thus absurdly imputed this judgment to Moses and Aaron, they impiously called the persons, thus perishing in their rebellion, “the people of the Lord!”
all the: Num 16:1-7, Num 14:2, Psa 106:13, Psa 106:23, Psa 106:25-48, Isa 26:11
Ye have: Num 16:3, 2Sa 16:7, 2Sa 16:8, 1Ki 18:17, Jer 37:13, Jer 37:14, Jer 38:4, Jer 43:3, Amo 7:10, Mat 5:11, Act 5:28, Act 21:28, 2Co 6:8
Reciprocal: Exo 14:11 – Because Exo 15:24 – General Exo 16:3 – to kill Exo 32:28 – there fell Lev 10:6 – lest wrath Num 12:13 – General Num 20:4 – that we Num 21:5 – spake 1Sa 8:8 – General 2Ki 1:11 – Again Lam 3:39 – a man Act 7:38 – in the church 1Co 10:10 – murmur
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 16:41. On the morrow Prodigious wickedness and madness, so soon to forget such a terrible instance of divine vengeance! The people of the Lord So they call those wicked wretches and rebels against God! Though they were but newly saved from sharing in the same punishment, and the survivers were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owed their preservation.